T-95 (KICT) The Rock Station’s “Not So Silent Night 2011” rolled into The Cotillion in Wichita, Kansas on December 14, 2011. The main headliner for this year’s event was Staind, with three opening bands, Aranda, Man Made Machine and Shamen’s Harvest. T-95 also featured the Rock Squad girls on stage between band set changes to promote their charity gift collection event with the Unites States Marine Corps.

Kicking off the night was Shamen’s Harvest from Jefferson City, Missouri. Their hard hitting set included multiple tracks such as “Shine,” “Dragonfly,” and “The Offering.” The new single “Dangerous” off the upcoming yet to be titled album was definitely a hit with the crowd.

As Shamans Harvest departed the stage, the stage was already being readied for Arizona rockers, Man Made Machine. After a quick 30 minute wait, the crowd got it’s first chance to hear Joe Cotela on vocals and Marc Hernandez and Steve Sminiski on the guitars. Their set included tracks like the rhythm laced “Victim” and “See You In Hell” from the recently released album, Become. The crowd was definitely primed and ready for Aranda and Staind after Man Made Machine’s quick set.

Before Staind could hit the stage to deliver their classic hard hitting tracks and ballads, Oklahoma City natives, Aranda, took to the stage to break the silence with their explosive rock stylings. Led by brothers Gabe and Dameon Aranda, the crowd was first hit by tracks “One More Lie,” “Stand” and “Punish Me” before they finished with the familiar tracks from their self titled debut album “Undone,” “Still In The Dark” and “Whyyawannabringmedown.” Aranda’s new album, Stop The World, is scheduled for an early 2012 release.

As soon as Aranda was done playing their last song, the crowd eagerly moved forward for the main headliner, Staind as the stage was quickly transformed for Aaron Lewis and company. Staind took to the stage and hit the crowd with an intense 90 minute set starting off immediately with “Spleen,” “Falling,” “Right Here,” “Eyes Wide Open” and “Fade.” Aaron Lewis treated the crowd to an acoustic “Red, White and Blue,” a very patriotic tune followed by “Country Boy.” The single “Not Again” was definitely a huge success live and sounded incredibly good in The Cotillion. Every word to “It’s Been Awhile” and “Mudshovel” could be heard being sung by the crowd in complete unison with Aaron Lewis just before the encore performance of “Something To Remind You.” By the time Staind finished up their set, the mood was anything but silent as the crowd definitely wanted more.

T-95 The Rock Station’s “Not So Silent Night 2011” was definitely a rock show filled with old and new music worth witnessing. It’ll be tough to top this past year’s lineup, but we’re already less than a year away from finding out the lineup for the 2012 “Not So Silent Night.